The Story of the Mosquito

Long ago, in a prosperous village along the banks of a wide river, there lived a wealthy merchant who had been blessed with a beautiful and loving wife. Their marriage was the envy of their neighbors, for the couple seemed to share a perfect happiness and deep affection for each other. The merchant’s business thrived, and his wife was known throughout the community for her grace, intelligence, and the devoted care she showed to her husband.

However, this idyllic life was disrupted when the merchant’s business required him to make a long journey to distant lands to establish new trading relationships. The trip would take many months, and both husband and wife were saddened by the prospect of such a long separation. Before departing, the merchant promised his wife that he would return as quickly as possible and that she would always be the only woman in his heart.

During the merchant’s absence, his wife waited faithfully for his return, managing their household affairs and maintaining their property with skill and dedication. She refused the advances of other men who tried to court her, remained loyal to her marriage vows, and spent her time in productive activities while eagerly anticipating her husband’s homecoming.

Unfortunately, the merchant’s journey proved more difficult and time-consuming than either of them had anticipated. Unexpected obstacles, political complications, and business setbacks delayed his return for over a year. During this extended absence, his wife’s patience and loneliness gradually gave way to worry, then suspicion, and finally to bitter resentment.

As months passed without word from her husband, the merchant’s wife began to listen to the gossip and speculation of neighbors who suggested that her husband might have found another woman during his travels. Some claimed to have heard rumors that he had taken a second wife in the foreign land where he was conducting business. Others whispered that he was simply enjoying his freedom and had no intention of returning to his obligations at home.

Though these were merely rumors without any foundation in truth, the merchant’s wife allowed them to poison her mind against her husband. Her love gradually transformed into jealousy, her trust became suspicion, and her devotion turned to bitter anger. She convinced herself that her husband had indeed betrayed her and abandoned their marriage for another woman.

When the merchant finally returned home after more than a year of difficult travel, expecting to be greeted with joy and relief by his beloved wife, he instead found her cold, hostile, and filled with accusations. She refused to listen to his explanations of the delays and difficulties he had encountered, rejected his gifts and tokens of affection from his travels, and publicly accused him of infidelity and abandonment.

The merchant was heartbroken by his wife’s transformation and tried desperately to convince her of his continued love and faithfulness. He showed her the detailed records of his business activities that proved he had been working constantly to return to her as quickly as possible. He presented letters from business associates that confirmed his devotion to his wife and his eagerness to complete his work and come home.

However, the merchant’s wife had become so consumed by jealousy and resentment that she could not accept the truth of his faithfulness. She had spent so many months nurturing her anger and suspicion that she was unwilling to give up these feelings even when presented with clear evidence of her husband’s innocence.

In her bitter state of mind, the merchant’s wife began to plot revenge against the husband she now saw as her betrayer. She decided that if he had caused her to suffer during his absence, she would make him suffer even more upon his return. Her love had transformed into such deep hatred that she was willing to destroy both their lives rather than admit she had been wrong about his faithfulness.

One night, while her husband slept peacefully beside her, exhausted from his long journey and the emotional turmoil of their reunion, the merchant’s wife crept quietly from their bed. In her hand, she carried a sharp knife that she intended to use to kill her husband as punishment for his supposed betrayal.

As she raised the knife above her sleeping husband’s chest, preparing to strike the fatal blow, the merchant suddenly awakened. Perhaps some instinct warned him of danger, or perhaps the gods intervened to protect an innocent man. Seeing his wife standing over him with a weapon, the merchant immediately understood the depth of her hatred and the mortal danger he faced.

In the struggle that followed, the merchant managed to wrestle the knife away from his wife, but in the process, she fell and struck her head fatally against the hard floor. As she lay dying, the merchant’s wife looked up at her husband with eyes still filled with hatred and spoke her final words: a curse that she would return from death to torment him forever.

“You may have escaped my revenge tonight,” she whispered with her last breath, “but I will find a way to come back and make you suffer. I will follow you wherever you go, and I will make you pay with your blood for the pain you have caused me.”

With these bitter words, the merchant’s wife died, her heart still filled with jealousy and desire for revenge. The merchant, though innocent of any wrongdoing, was devastated by the tragic end of what had once been a beautiful marriage. He grieved not only for his wife’s death but for the love that had been destroyed by suspicion and jealousy.

However, the merchant’s wife’s dying curse proved to be more than empty words. After her death, her soul, still consumed with hatred and desire for revenge, could not find peace in the afterlife. Instead of moving on to the next world, her spirit remained bound to Earth by her overwhelming need to punish her husband.

The gods, observing this situation, decided that the woman’s refusal to let go of her anger and her desire for eternal revenge deserved punishment. They transformed her restless spirit into the form of a tiny insect – a mosquito – that would indeed be able to follow her husband wherever he went and to take his blood as she had threatened.

But the transformation came with a cruel irony: as a mosquito, she would be so small and insignificant that her husband would never recognize her or understand that she was fulfilling her promise of revenge. She would spend eternity seeking his blood, but he would see her only as a minor annoyance, not as the wife who had once loved him and whom he had once cherished.

Moreover, the curse extended beyond just her relationship with her husband. Because her jealousy and desire for revenge had been so consuming that it destroyed their love completely, she would be compelled to seek blood from all humans, forever searching for the satisfaction of revenge that would never truly come.

From that day forward, mosquitoes have buzzed around humans, seeking to take their blood. The annoying whine that mosquitoes make as they fly is said to be the eternal complaint of the merchant’s wife, still protesting her husband’s supposed betrayal and announcing her intention to take revenge through bloodsucking.

The merchant’s wife had achieved her goal of following her husband forever and taking his blood, but in a form so diminished that her revenge brought her no satisfaction. She had become a creature that people swatted away without thought, her grand passion reduced to a minor irritation.

This tale became a cautionary story about the destructive power of jealousy and the importance of trust in marriage relationships. It showed how suspicion and resentment could transform love into hatred and how the desire for revenge could ultimately destroy the person seeking it more than their intended victim.

The story also served as a warning about the dangers of listening to gossip and rumors instead of trusting in the character of those we love. The merchant’s wife had allowed unfounded speculation to poison her mind against a faithful husband, leading to tragedy that could have been avoided through patience and trust.

In Vietnamese culture, this legend reinforced values of marital fidelity, the importance of communication between spouses, and the belief that those who harbor hatred and seek revenge will ultimately suffer more than their intended victims. It taught that jealousy and suspicion could be more destructive than actual betrayal.

Today, when Vietnamese people are bothered by mosquitoes, some remember this ancient story and see the insects not just as pests, but as reminders of how jealousy and the desire for revenge can transform love into something petty and annoying. The tale serves as a warning about the importance of trust, patience, and forgiveness in maintaining healthy relationships.

The story of the mosquito teaches us that hatred and revenge, even when they seem justified, ultimately trap us in cycles of suffering that diminish our humanity. True strength lies in choosing forgiveness and trust over suspicion and vengeance, and in recognizing that love requires patience and faith to survive the inevitable challenges that life presents to every relationship.